The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers office in Pittsburgh is out for comment until Jan. 20 on an application by Shelby Run Mining Co. LLC for a Section 404 Clean Water Act permit on a deep mine project in Taylor County, W.Va.
Said a Corps public notice: “The applicant proposes to construct a 4.5 acre slope area and a six acre shaft area associated with the Shelby Run underground mine operation in Pruntytown, Taylor County, West Virginia (39.309199/-80.074678). Permanent impacts are proposed to five unnamed tributaries of Shelby Run, totaling 841 linear feet. Permanent impacts are also proposed to one 0.605 acre wetland. All impacts are fill related to the regrading of the shaft area. The applicant has proposed to replace lost functions and values of aquatic resources by purchasing 721.0808192 stream credits, and 1.211 wetland replacement credits from a mitigation bank.”
West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection records show that in 2013, two permits were issued to Shelby Run Mining for deep mines, with neither mine started yet.
- One permit was for the Shelby Run mine, using longwall and room-and-pillar mining methods to work the Lower Kittanning coal seam; and
- The other permit is for the Tucker Run mine, permitted as a room-and-pillar operation in the Lower Kittanning seam.
The Shelby Run Mining assets were part of Arch Coal‘s 2011 purchase of International Coal Group. Arch Coal’s Leer underground mine in Taylor County is located nearby.
